Corruption Currents: From Canadian Charges to a $169 Million Check

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Bribery:

Mike Lucas

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police charged a former executive at SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. with foreign bribery as part of an ongoing probe into the engineering firm’s activity in trying to score a contract in Bangladesh. His lawyer said he had “serious concerns” about the charges. (Canadian Press Globe and Mail)

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.) visitedNews Corp.’s London headquarters earlier this year to prepare an investigation into phone hacking and alleged bribery by the company’s U.K. newspaper unit. News Corp, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, publishes this page. (Daily Telegraph)

An interview with the Siemens AG general counsel about the company’s changes since its record-breaking foreign bribery settlement is here. (Guardian)

Two NYPD officers working in Queens were arrested and charged with accepting cash payments in exchange for copies of official accident reports. Calls to their lawyers weren’t immediately returned. (NBC New York)

A federal jury convicted a former aide to a Cook County, Ill., board president of corruption and bribery. (Chicago Tribune)

A jailed former Ohio county auditor, serving a 22-year sentence for bribery in Pennsylvania, was returned to Ohio to be questioned. (The Plain Dealer)

A Colombian gold exporter is under investigation for alleged money laundering. The exporter’s lawyers said they asked to be heard about the allegations. (Colombia Reports)

Sanctions:

Russia’s state-controlled bank VTB Group and state development Vneshekonombank, or VEB, denied reports they are helping the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. (Dow Jones Newswires)

Iran’s president said in an interview Tehran will neverdevelop nuclear weapons. The West is wary but intrigued. President Barack Obama and Iran President Hassan Rouhani have developed a pen-pal relationship and they might meet at the United Nations General Assembly. Tehran dismissed reports it would close a nuclear facility in exchange for lifting sanctions. Israel thinks Iran is buying time. (NBC News, Reuters, Reuters, Reuters, NY Times, Al Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Tasnim News Agency, Reuters)

Under the ASU, inventory is “measured at the lower of cost and net realizable value,” which eliminates the need to determine replacement cost and evaluate whether it is above the ceiling net realizable value or below the floor. The FASB did not amend other guidance on measuring inventory, such as the LIFO, FIFO and average cost method. In addition to reducing complexity, the proposal would make U.S. GAAP more comparable to IFRS.

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